I was listening to my favorite podcast (No Stupid Questions) while taking a walk, and the topic was burnout. At every school I have taught, at least one teacher would warn me about burnout. I have never really felt burned out, but the podcast episode brought up a Gallup Poll showing that 59% of the global workforce had become silent quitters.
What are silent quitters? They are people who do just enough not to get fired. They are the type who punches in and out at the contracted time. Management is often irritated with them, and they are called lazy.
What first came to my mind is, how many teachers are silent quitters? Then I thought, how many students are silent quitters? Usually, the bias is to blame the individual, but research has shown that it is more often the company that needs to be fixed. In my case, that means the classroom.
Research says that these six variables promote a healthy work climate.
1. Sustainable workload
2. Recognition and rewards
3. Choice and control
4. Supportive work community
5. Clear values and meaningful work
One challenge we all face is to avoid falling into the trap of solely blaming the individual. We need to make sure that we put everyone in an environment where they can thrive.
As always, your feedback is welcome.
Honestly, there are a lot of teachers who are "silent quitters," and I have sympathy for them. Education is severely lacking #1 and #2 on your list above - a sustainable workload and recognition and rewards. Trust me, even when you win an award, no one cares. When I didn't know how to handle the workload and the number of students I had last year, the advice I was given was to "do less."
ReplyDeleteHot take: Maybe "silent quitting" is an appropriate response to a work culture that expects us to be "the giving tree" and give and give until there's nothing left. Maybe if we framed it as "placing healthy and acceptable boundaries" and not as "silent quitting" is would be a badge of honor?